Submitted by Jim Seale
I would like to take this opportunity to announce that I am seeking re-election as Poteau Street Commissioner. I was elected in April 2015 and I can say that these last four years have gone by in a hurry.
I will be the first to say that I have not been able to accomplish as much as I would have liked, but I believe that we have been able to complete several projects that will serve the City well for years to come.
First the milling and overlay project of Dewey Avenue. The fist phase from Broadway to the KCS Railroad along with milling and overlaying each of the intersections of McKenna, Witte and Harper Streets was completed in 2016.
The second phase which extended from KCS Railroad to Eastern Oklahoma Medical Center and also included Wall Street and East Blvd was completed in early 2018.
Secondly I am very appreciative of the new bridge which we were able to construct on Paul Maithes Drive adjacent to Bill Barber Park. We were able to accomplish this project in a much more cost effective manor by contracting only the bridge construction itself. We did the demolition, channel clearing, approaches and asphalt work ourselves.
I am very proud of the turn lane that we were able to add on Hughes Drive. This addition helps greatly with the flow of traffic turning onto Broadway, especially during school hours. We had a very compressed time frame in which to do all the drainage which included the two large diameter pipes under Hughes Drive, the dirt work, asphalt overlay and stripping of the roadway. The new school year was set to start within only a few days of us acquiring the needed right of way to do the project. Our crew worked very hard to get the job done in the allotted time.
I know that our Street Department is judged by one thing only, that is Streets. We have a tremendous amount of responsibility other than just Streets. We must maintain the mowing of all right-of-ways not only in town, but all of the Bypass, North to the Shady Point city limits and also to the City limits by the Industrial Park. We also are in charge of all drainage and alleyways within the city limits. We have a great deal of responsibility other than just Streets as you can see.
It is a challenge to try to accomplish all this work with only a six man crew, but we work at it every day. I work alongside our crew doing whatever it takes to get the job done and will continue to do so to try and better this great city of ours.
I will share more in the days ahead about ongoing street projects that are planned in the future.
I humbly ask for your consideration and vote in the upcoming election. I pledge to you that I will continue to work hard everyday to make improvements to our streets, these improvements however are costly and are limited by budget constraints. I have and will continue to spend our tax dollars as wisely as possible.
It has been an honor to serve as your Street Commissioner for the last four years and I would greatly appreciate your support to serve again.
Thank you and may God bless each of you as we strive to make Poteau a better place to live, work and raise our families!!
If you have any questions you can contact me by email at Sealejim57@ yahoo.com or by phone at 918-413-3336.
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